Educational therapists work with children who have learning disabilities and ADHD. They focus on the underlying skills necessary for students to perform up to their ability.
Educational therapists create intervention programs, measure progress using assessments, and make changes as required.
In addition to reading, writing and spelling, educational therapists, there are other educational therapists that specialize in arithmetic, executive functioning, and more!
Students with learning disabilities, such as ADHD, dyslexia, dyscalculia, and dysgraphia, require educational therapists rather than a general tutoring.
These children need a professional who has a comprehensive understanding of the whole child, both educational and social/emotional in order to provide individualized and customized strategies for each student.
How to find a qualified educational therapist?
Finding a right educational therapist can be daunting. Think about doctors, the majority of basic problems may be handled by a family physician.
On the other hand, there is not one doctor who is an expert that handles all “specialized” medicine?
The more specific your requirements are, the more critical it is that you choose the right professional. Finding the best educational therapist is similar.
Locating a well suited educational therapist with a skill set meeting a child’s (age,development level, academic issues,personality) is difficult even if parents search for “educational therapist near me” on google.
The following are points to consider when selecting the right educational therapist for their child.
Qualification of good educational therapist
Professional educational therapist must have a four-year college degree and a masters in education, special education and a masters in a related field.
It is also important that educational therapists be certified by the American Association of Educational Therapists (AET) in order to practise.
Characteristics of good educational therapist
We can find the following qualities in a qualified educational therapist :
Resilience
A professional educational therapist can deal with students’ occasionally oppositional behaviors.
This means they are able to spontaneously change activities and strategies as needed while remaining unfazed by children who are reluctant to cooperate or show behavioral challenges.
An experienced educational therapist is the one who is at ease pivoting from a client who is eager yet apprehensive to one who has a behavior disorder and challenges the therapist’s abilities.
Communication
Working with children necessitates the development of stronger nonverbal communication abilities because they lack the emotional maturity to communicate their feelings in a session like an adult.
Understanding and adapting to their unique communication methods is essential for an educational therapist to evaluate their behavior and devise the most effective treatment plan for them.
Compassion
Educational therapist should always be an empathetic and active listener.
This is a tool for building trust with a child, which is the foundation for all that follows in the therapy process.
Empathy should be a big consideration when choosing an educational therapist.
Specialized Knowledge
Educational therapists should be well-versed in the difficulties children encounter and be able to address them in an efficient, effective manner.
They are able to make the process engaging while holding boundaries.
Educational therapists understand it is important to challenge a student, but never ask them to do work they are not capable of doing.
A person with specialized training knows what to look for while observing a kid and asks the proper questions and evaluates the information to identify problems.
Ethics
Educational therapists follow a strict code of ethics as they deal with sensitive data and have to make decisions that have long-term ramifications for the child involved.
This means that they must abide by the ethics of their profession, as well as staying true to their moral compass, and make a commitment to help rather than hurt clients by leaking sensitive data.
Questions to Ask before Hiring educational therapist
- What kind of training and education do you have?
- What are their main areas of your expertise? Specific problems in children or adults?
- What types of mental health issues in children do you deal with?
- If my child has an issue, how will you determine that?
- Do you have any prior experience treating a child who has symptoms that are similar to those of my child?
- What sort of training have you had in therapies that have been shown to be beneficial in reducing some of the symptoms my child is experiencing?
- How long have you been practicing educational therapy?
- Is the review procedure going to include the parents? If so, how exactly?
- What is the time span of each session and how many times a week are the most beneficial?
- Approximately how much time and money would it take for you to perform a basic evaluation?
- Will there be a follow-up meeting where your results may be shared with the rest of the team? How soon after the evaluation is this generally done?
- Will the follow-up meeting involve my child? If that’s the case, how exactly?
- Will more examination be required after the initial assessment, and if so, how much time (and money) will it take?
- Do you offer a sliding scale for financial hardships?
- Is there a written report that we’ll get? Can I expect to receive the results soon?
- How often can parents have check ins, how do we learn about our child’s progress?
- Would you be willing to work at odd hours or on the weekends in order to meet the demands of a patient?
- Would you be willing to provide in-home or online therapy sessions?
- What part will parents play from the beginning to the end of the process?
Any therapist you hire should be aware of his or her specialization or emphasis area, where he or she performs the finest job.
Stay empowerED,
Nicole
Sources
https://www.allkindsoftherapy.com/blog/top-questions-to-ask-a-consultant-or-interventionist
https://www.aetonline.org/index.php/parents/find-an-educational
https://www.healthschoolguide.net/health-careers/how-to-become-an-educational-therapist/
https://childmind.org/article/what-is-an-educational-therapist/
http://www.stepstosuccessedtherapy.com/what-is-educational-therapy
https://www.prospects.ac.uk/job-profiles/educational-psychologist
https://enquire.org.uk/asl/whats-role-educational-psychologists/
